Chemically based vascular occlusion device deployment

ABSTRACT

A vascular occlusion device deployment system for placing an occlusion device at a preselected site within the vasculature of a patient. The deployment system employing a pusher having a lumen with an opening at the distal end of the pusher. A vascular occlusion device is connected to the distal end of the pusher by a portion that is removeably disposed within the opening. The portion of the occlusion device is forced out of the opening by an expandable reaction chamber, thereby deploying the occlusion device. The expandable reaction chamber, prior to deployment, has multiple chambers separated by a heat-dissolvable membrane. When the membrane is dissolved, components from the chambers react and expand, leading to deployment.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to deployment systems and methods foraccurately and rapidly deploying vascular occlusion devices at apreselected location within the vascular system of a patient, and moreparticularly, deployment approaches that utilize an expanding chemicalreaction chamber to facilitate rapid deployment of vascular occlusiondevices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The use of catheter delivery systems for positioning and deployingtherapeutic devices, such as dilation balloons, stents and emboliccoils, in the vasculature of the human body has become a standardprocedure for treating endovascular diseases. It has been found thatsuch devices are particularly useful in treating areas where traditionaloperational procedures are impossible or pose a great risk to thepatient, for example in the treatment of aneurysms in intracranial bloodvessels. Due to the delicate tissue surrounding intracranial bloodvessels, especially for example brain tissue, it is very difficult andoften risky to perform surgical procedures to treat such a defect.Advancements in catheter deployment systems have provided an alternativetreatment in such cases. Some of the advantages of catheter deliverysystems are that they provide methods for treating blood vessels by anapproach that has been found to reduce the risk of trauma to thesurrounding tissue, and they also allow for treatment of blood vesselsthat in the past would have been considered inoperable.

Typically, these procedures involve inserting the distal end of adelivery catheter into the vasculature of a patient and guiding itthrough the vasculature to a predetermined delivery site. A vascularocclusion device, such as an embolic coil, is attached to the end of adelivery member which pushes the coil through the catheter and out ofthe distal end of the catheter into the delivery site. Some of theproblems that have been associated with these procedures relate to theaccuracy of coil placement. For example, the force of the coil exitingthe delivery catheter may cause the coil to over shoot the predeterminedsite or dislodge previously deployed coils. Also, once the coil ispushed out of the distal end of the catheter, the coil cannot beretracted and may migrate to an undesired location. Often, retrievingand repositioning the coil requires a separate procedure and has thepotential to expose the patient to additional risk.

In response to the above mentioned concerns, numerous devices andrelease mechanisms have been developed in an attempt to provide adeployment system which allows control of the occlusion device after thedevice has been delivered by the catheter and provides a rapid releaseor detachment mechanism to release the device once it is in place. Onesuch device is disclosed in Geremia et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,407,which shows a fiber optic cable including a connector device mounted tothe end to the optic fiber. An embolic coil is attached to the connectordevice by a heat releasable adhesive. Laser light is transmitted throughthe fiber optic cable to increase the temperature of the connectordevice, which melts the adhesive and releases the embolic coil. Onedrawback to using this type of system is the potential risk of meltedadhesives contaminating the blood stream.

Another coil deployment system employs a pusher member having an emboliccoil attached to the pusher member by a connector fiber which is capableof being broken by heat, as disclosed in Gandhi et al. U.S. Pat. No.6,478,773. The pusher member of this arrangement includes an electricalresistance heating coil through which the connector fiber is passed.Electrical current is supplied to the heating coil by a power sourceconnected to the heating coil via wires extending through an internallumen of the pusher. The power source is activated to increase thetemperature of the heating coil which breaks the connector fiber.

Yet another embolic coil positioning and delivery system is described inSaadat et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,242, which discloses a catheter havinga shape memory alloy connector attached to the distal end of thecatheter. The connector includes a socket having a pair of spaced-apartfingers which are responsive to a change in temperature. The fingers arebent towards each other and hold a ball which is connected to an end ofan embolic coil. The connector absorbs laser light transmitted throughan optical cable and transmits the light into heat energy. The heatenergy raises the temperature of the connector and opens the fingers,thereby releasing the embolic coil. This patent, and all other patentsand references identified herein are hereby incorporated herein byreference.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention embodies a deployment system and method foraccurately and rapidly deploying a vascular occlusion device at apreselected site within the vasculature of a patient. The deploymentsystem may employ an elongated flexible delivery catheter for guiding adeployment unit to the preselected site. The deployment unit includes adelivery tube or pusher that pushes and guides the vascular occlusiondevice, such as an embolic coil, through the delivery catheter to thepreselected site.

The pusher may include an internal lumen which has an opening at thedistal end of the pusher. The occlusion device includes a portion, suchas a headpiece, which is removeably disposed within the opening by afriction fit between the headpiece and the inner surface of the pusher.This arrangement maintains the connection between the occlusion deviceand the deployment unit until the desired deployment.

A reaction chamber is positioned within the lumen of the pusher. Thereaction chamber includes an expandable wall adjacent the headpiece ofthe occlusion device. The reaction chamber also includes two reactantswhich are separated by a heat dissolvable membrane. When the heatdissolvable membrane dissolves, the reactants mix within the chamber tocreate a product that expands to a volume greater than the originalreactants. The product pushes against the expandable wall of the chamberwhich in turn contacts the headpiece. The force of the expandable wallagainst the headpiece overcomes the fictional force between theheadpiece and the inner wall of the lumen, forcing the headpiece out ofthe opening, thereby deploying the vascular occlusion device.

In another embodiment the pusher has a gripper located at a distal endportion of the pusher. The gripper has an expandable gripping elementfor releasably attaching a vascular occlusion device to the deploymentsystem. In this embodiment, the reaction chamber operativelycommunicates with the gripper. When the reaction chamber expands, itapplies force to the gripper to cause the gripper to expand outwardlyand release the occlusion device.

Other aspects, objects and advantages of the present invention will beunderstood from the following description according to the preferredembodiments of the present invention, specifically including stated andunstated combinations of the various features which are describedherein, relevant information concerning which is shown in theaccompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In describing the preferred embodiments of the present invention,reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged partially sectioned view of a vascular occlusiondevice deployment system of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partially sectioned view of an embodiment of adeployment unit of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the reaction chamber of thedeployment unit shown in FIG. 2 taken along line 3-3;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the reaction chamber of thedeployment unit shown in FIG. 2 taken along line 4-4;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partially sectioned view of another embodiment ofa deployment unit of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the reaction chamber of thedeployment unit shown in FIG. 5 taken along line 6-6;

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the reaction chamber and heating elementof the deployment unit shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the reaction chamber and heatingelement of the deployment unit shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged partially sectioned view of the deployment unit ofFIG. 2 shown just after deployment of the occlusion device;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged partially sectioned view showing anotherembodiment of a deployment unit of the present invention; and

FIG. 11 is an enlarged partially sectioned view of the deployment unitof FIG. 10 shown just after deployment of the occlusion device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosedherein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodimentsare merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in variousforms. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to beinterpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as arepresentative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variouslyemploy the present invention in virtually any appropriate manner.

FIG. 1 generally illustrates a preferred embodiment of the vascularocclusion device deployment system of the present invention. Thedeployment system, generally designated at 100, includes an elongatedflexible guiding catheter 102 which is inserted into the vasculature ofa patient, such as blood vessel 104, and used to guide a deploymentunit, generally designed 110, to a preselected site in a mannergenerally known in the art. The deployment unit 110 includes anelongated flexible pusher or delivery tube 111 having a proximal endportion 115 and a distal end portion 117. An internal lumen 112 extendsfrom the proximal end portion 115 to the distal end portion 117 of thepusher 111. A vascular occlusion device 142, generally illustrated as anembolic coil, is removeably disposed within an opening 116 (which can beseen in FIG. 9) of the lumen 112 at the distal end 117 of the pusher111.

FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of the delivery unit. The deliveryunit 110 includes a reaction chamber 114 located within the lumen 112proximal the opening 116 in the distal end portion 117 of the pusher111. Illustratively, the reaction chamber 114 has a generallycylindrical shape (as shown in FIG. 3) that is defined by a proximalwall 118, a distal wall 120 and a continuous sidewall 122 locatedbetween the proximal wall and distal wall. It will be understood thatthe reaction chamber can be a shape other than cylindrical, for example,a square defined by the appropriately shaped walls.

The distal wall 120 is comprised of an elastic expandable member.Preferably, the distal wall 120 is a membrane made of a siliconeelastomer having substantial flexibility and elasticity. The proximalwall 118 and sidewall 122 also can be membranes made of a siliconepolymer. The materials used in forming the proximal-wall 118, distalwall 120 and sidewall 122 should be selected as not to significantlydegrade when exposed to heat or while in contact with the reactants.Typically, the respective membranes will have different Durometerhardness values. For example, the proximal wall 118 and sidewall 122 arepreferably made of a higher Durometer polymer than the distal wall 120.

A heat dissolvable membrane 124 is positioned within the reactionchamber 114 to separate the reaction chamber into a first compartment orsub-chamber 126 and a second compartment or sub-chamber 128. The heatdissolving membrane is preferably made from a material that will notsignificantly degrade when in contact with the reactants, and readilydissolves in the presence of heat energy. Typical membrane materialsinclude polyolefins such as polyethylene, copolymers and various blends.

The heat dissolvable membrane preferably degrades at a temperature abovebody temperature, and more preferably above a temperature of at leastabout 40 degrees C., most preferably above at least about 42 degrees C.When used herein in this context, the term degrades indicates that themembrane will fail to maintain separation between the respectivecompartments that it separates before this membrane thus degrades andallows the respective materials in the respective compartments tocontact one another.

In the illustrated embodiment, the reaction chamber 114 includes a lipor ridge 130 that extends circumferentially around the perimeter of theinside of the reaction chamber. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the marginaledges 125 of the heat dissolvable membrane 124 are attached to the lip130 (partially shown in phantom) by, for example, a biocompatibleadhesive.

Referring back to FIGS. 2 and 3, a first reactant 132 is housed withinthe first sub-chamber 126, and a second reactant 134 is housed withinthe second sub-chamber 128. When the first reactant 132 and the secondreactant 134 are combined, they produce a product that has a greatervolume than the combined volume of the first and second reactants priorto combining.

The first and second reactants 132, 134 can be any reactants thatproduce a product having a greater volume than the originalcompositions. Preferably, the first and second reactants may be any ofthe reactants disclosed in Cooke et al., WO 92/09651, herebyincorporated herein by reference, which produce a polycyanoacrylatefoam. In particular, the first reactant is preferably a mixture ofcyanoacrylate monomer and ethanoland the second reactant is preferably amixture of ethanol and N,N-Dimethyl-p-toluidine. Other reactantmaterials that when combined form a foam material with an increased bulkvolume relative to the reactants, such as precursors for polyurethanefoam are also suitable. Additionally, the material of the heatdissolving membrane and the reactants should be chosen so that thereactants do not significantly degrade the membrane and that themembrane does not significantly affect the properties of the reactants.

In one method of assembling the reaction chamber 114, the reactionchamber can be assembled, and then the first and second reactants 132,134 can be injected into their respective sub-chambers 126, 128 bypiercing a needle through an appropriate wall of the reaction chamberand injecting the reactant. When assembling the reaction chamber 114 inthis fashion, the walls through which the reactants are injected must besufficiently elastic to recover after the needle has been removed toprevent leakage.

As shown in FIG. 2, a heat generating system 136 extends through theproximal wall 118 of the reaction chamber and into the reaction chamber114. The heat generating system 136 includes a heating element 138, forexample an electrical resistance heating coil that is attached to a setof leads 140, 140 a extending through the lumen 112. Referring to FIG.3, the heating element 138 is positioned within the chamber so that whenheat energy radiates from the heating element, the heat energy activatesor dissolves the heat dissolvable membrane 124. Preferably, the heatingelement 138 is in contact with the heat dissolvable membrane 124.

When the heating element 138 is an electrical resistance heating coil,the temperature of the heating element can be elevated by supplyingelectrical current from a power source (not shown) to the heatingelement via the leads 140, 140 a. In an alternative embodiment, the heatgenerating system 136 can comprise a fiber optic cable that has aheating element located at a distal end portion of the fiber opticcable, as disclosed in pending U.S. application Ser. No. 11/171,898,filed Jun. 30, 2005, hereby incorporated herein by reference. In thisalternative embodiment, light energy, preferably laser-light energy, istransmitted through the fiber optic cable to the heating element. Theheating element absorbs the light energy causing it to increase intemperature.

Referring to FIG. 2, the illustrated vascular occlusion device 142includes a portion or headpiece 144 which is sized and shaped to beremoveably disposed within the opening 116 at the distal end 117 of thepusher 111 so that a proximal end 146 of the headpiece 144 is adjacentthe distal wall 120 of the chamber 114. The headpiece 144 is preferablyheld in place by a friction fit with the inner surface of the pusher 111until the desired time of deployment, as will be discussed herein.Alternatively, the headpiece 144 may by held in place by a relativelyweak biocompatible adhesive or by-any other suitable manner.

As stated above, the occlusion device 142 may be an embolic coil whichmay take various forms and configurations, and may also be filled with afibrous material or maybe coated with a beneficial substance, such as abiogel to promote clotting. Alternatively, the occlusion device also maybe any other occlusive device or approach known in the art such ashydrogels, foams, bioactive coils, braids, cables and hybrid devices.

Another embodiment of the delivery unit is illustrated in FIGS. 5-8. Thedelivery unit 147 of this embodiment is generally similar to theprevious embodiment except that the reaction chamber 148 is of adifferent construction. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the reaction chamber148 is comprised of two discrete sections, namely a first sub-chamber150 and a second sub-chamber 152. Referring to FIG. 6, illustratively,the reaction chamber is cylindrically shaped, and the first and secondsub-chambers 150, 152 are semi-cylindrically shaped in cross-section.Turning to FIGS. 5, 7 and 8, the first sub-chamber 150 includes aproximal wall 154, a distal wall 155 and a sidewall 156 between theproximal wall and distal wall. The first sub-chamber also includes anopening 158. Likewise, the second sub-chamber 152 includes a proximalwall 160, a distal wall 162 and a sidewall 164. The second sub-chamber152 also includes an opening 166. The first sub-chamber 150 includes alip 168 that extends around the perimeter of the opening 158. The secondsub-chamber 152 also includes a lip 170 that extends around theperimeter of the opening 166.

The distal wall 155 of the first sub-chamber 150 and the distal wall 162of the second sub-chamber 152 are comprised of an elastic expandablemembrane. The proximal walls 154, 160 and the sidewalls 156, 164 of thefirst and second chamber 150, 152 are preferably made from a higherDurometer polymer and are more rigid than the distal walls 155, 162.

Referring to FIGS. 5, 6 and 8, the first sub-chamber 150 and the secondsub-chamber 152 are attached together at the lips 168, 170 so that theopening 158 of the first sub-chamber 150 is generally aligned with theopening 166 of the second sub-chamber 152, at least such that theopenings open into each other. The sub-chambers 150, 152 are preferablyattached together by an adhesive, but can also be attached by any othersuitable method known in the art, such as melt or heat bonding.

A heat dissolvable membrane 124 is positioned between the opening 158 ofthe first sub-chamber 150 and the opening 166 of the second sub-chamber152. The heat dissolvable membrane 124 prevents communication betweenthe first sub-chamber 150 and the second sub-chamber 152 until themembrane is dissolved. The dissolvable membrane 124 is held in positionby attaching the membrane to the first sub-chamber 150, the secondsub-chamber 152 or both the first and second sub-chambers. Preferably,the marginal edges 125 of the heat dissolvable membrane 124 aresandwiched between the lips 168, 170 of the first and secondsub-chambers 150, 152 and attached, such as by an adhesive, asillustrated in FIGS. 5, 6 and 8.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, a first reactant 132 is housed within thefirst sub-chamber 150, and a second reactant 134 is housed within thesecond sub-chamber 152. When the first reactant 132 and the secondreactant 134 are combined, they produce a product that has a greatervolume than the combined volume of the first and second reactants priorto combining. The first and second reactants can be the same reactantsas described above or any other reactants that produce a product thathas a greater volume than the combined volume of the first and secondreactants.

The delivery unit 147 includes a heat generating system 136, generallysimilar to the heat generating system described above. The heatgenerating system 136 includes a heating element138-positioned-between-the first and second sub-chambers 150, 152. Theheating element 138 is situated so that when the heating element isactivated, heat energy radiating from the heating element dissolves theheat dissolvable membrane 124.

Referring to FIG. 7, in one method of assembling the reaction chamber148, the first sub-chamber 150 can be filled with the first reactant andthen the heat dissolvable membrane can be adhered to the lip 168 of thefirst sub-chamber. The second sub-chamber 152 can be filled with thesecond reactant. The first sub-chamber 150 and the second sub-chamber152 can then be adhered together to form the reaction chamber 148 withthe heating element 138 fitting between the first sub-chamber and thesecond sub-chamber.

The operation of the delivery units 110 and 147 shown in FIGS. 2 and 5,respectively, will generally be described in relation to FIGS. 1, 2 and9. A catheter 102 is inserted into the vasculature of the patient, suchas blood vessel 104, and positioned at a preselected location, typicallyin conjunction with other devices and professional procedures asgenerally known in the art. The delivery unit 110 is inserted into andadvanced through the catheter 102. Once the delivery unit 110 reachesthe desired location, the delivery unit 110 is advanced and/or thecatheter 102 is moved in a retrograde manner such that the delivery unitmoves with respect to and within the catheter until the occlusion device142 moves through the catheter 102 and out of the distal end of thecatheter.

During the procedure and before the occlusion device 142 has beendeployed, if it is determined that the distal end of the catheter 102 orthe occlusion device 142 is not in the correct location, the occlusiondevice 142 may be retrieved back into the distal end of the catheter byretracting the delivery unit 110 proximally or advancing the catheterdistally. Once the occlusion device as been retrieved, the catheterand/or the occlusion device 142 may be repositioned.

When the occlusion device 142 is in the correct position, the heatingelement 138 is activated, for example, by activating the power sourcewhen using an electrical resistance coil or by transmitting laser-lightenergy through a fiber optic cable when a light energy absorbableheating element is used. After activation, the temperature of theheating element 138 rises and the heating element radiates or releasesheat energy. The heat energy causes the heat dissolvable membrane 124 todissolve which in turn allows the first and second reactants 132, 134 tocombine to form a product 174. Referring to FIG. 9, the product 174 hasa greater volume than the combined volume of the first and secondreactants 132, 134 prior to reacting. The expanding volume of theproduct 174 forces the lower durometer distal wall 120 of the reactionchamber 114 to expand or stretch distally within the lumen 112,contacting the proximal end 146 of the headpiece 144 and forcing theheadpiece out of the opening 116, thereby deploying the occlusion device142.

FIGS. 10 and 11 illustrate yet another embodiment of the presentinvention. In this embodiment, the delivery unit 175 includes a gripper176 similar to the gripper disclosed in co-pending U.S. application Ser.No. 11/171,897, filed Jun. 30, 2005, hereby incorporated herein byreference. The gripper 176 is located at the distal end portion 178 ofthe pusher 180. The gripper 176 includes an outwardly expandablegripping element 181, which is generally illustrated as a plurality ofjaws 182, 182 a. The gripping element 181 releasably engages aprotruding portion or headpiece 144 a of vascular occlusion device 142a. As will be discussed in more detail below, when the gripping element181 expands outwardly, it releases the headpiece 144 a of the occlusiondevice 142 a.

The gripper 176 may be comprised of polymer, such as FEP Teflon, PTFETeflon, polyvinyl chloride, a polyolefin or a neoprene, or any othersuitable polymer, and may be constructed as disclosed in Bennett et al.U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,608, hereby incorporated herein by reference.Alternatively, the gripper 176 may be constructed of any suitable metal,or the gripper could comprise a microtube which has been slit. Asuitable microtube may be made of stainless steel or of anickel-titanium alloy such as Nitinol, or other suitable material.Further, in the illustrated embodiment, the gripper 176 is a separateunit which is attached to the pusher 180 in any suitable manner, forexample by a silicone or cyanoacrylate adhesive. However, it is alsocontemplated that the gripper 176 and pusher 180 could be a unitarystructure.

An expandable reaction chamber 184, similar to the expandable reactionchambers 114 or 148 of the previous embodiments, is positioned at leastpartially within the gripper 176. In this embodiment, the sidewall 186of the reaction chamber 184 has a lower Durometer value than theproximal wall 188 and distal wall 190.

Referring to FIG. 10, similar to the reaction chamber of the previousembodiments, the reaction chamber includes a first sub-chamber 192 and asecond sub-chamber 194 separated by a heat dissolvable membrane 124. Thefirst sub-chamber 192 contains a first reactant 132, and the secondsub-chamber 194 includes a second reactant 134, similar to the reactantsdescribed above. The delivery unit 175 also includes a heat generatingsystem 136 to dissolve the heat dissolving membrane.

When the heat dissolvable membrane 124 is dissolved, the first andsecond reactants 132, 134 are mixed to produce a product 174 which has agreater volume than the combined volume of the first and secondreactants prior to mixing, as illustrated in FIG. 11. The expandingproduct 174 pushes against the inner surface of sidewall 186, causingthe sidewall 186 to outwardly expand. The force of the expanded sidewall186 against the gripping element 181 forces the gripping element tooutwardly expand or open. Movement in this regard can be in a generallyradial direction. Optionally, the distal wall 190 can have a Durometervalue which allows it to expand to contact the headpiece 144 a of theocclusion device 142 a and push the headpiece 144 a out of and away fromthe expanded gripping element 181, when this action is desired.

In operation, a catheter 102 is inserted into the vasculature system ofa patient and positioned at a preselected location within a blood vessel104, typically in conjunction with other devices and professionalprocedures as generally known in the art. Using the methods describedabove, the delivery unit 175 is inserted into and advanced through thecatheter 102 to place the occlusion device 142 a at a desired locationwithin the blood vessel.

During the procedure and before the occlusion device 142 a has beendeployed, if it is determined that the distal end of the catheter 102 orthe occlusion device is not in the correct location, the occlusiondevice may be retrieved back into the distal end of the catheter byretracting the delivery unit proximally or advancing the catheterdistally. Once the occlusion device 142 a has been retrieved, thecatheter 102 and/or the occlusion device may be repositioned.

When the occlusion device 142 a is in the correct position, the heatingelement 138 is activated to dissolve the heat dissolvable membrane. Thefirst and second reactants 132, 134 mix and react to produce product 174which has a larger volume than the combined volumes of the first andsecond reactants prior to mixing, as illustrated in FIG. 11. Theexpanding product 17A pushes against the inner wall of the sidewall 186of the reaction chamber 184, causing the sidewall to expand. Theexpanded sidewall 186 presses against the gripping element 181 outwardlyexpanding or opening the gripping element to release the occlusiondevice 142 a at the preselected location within the blood vessel. Ifdesired, the distal wall 190 may simultaneously press against theheadpiece 144 a to push it out of and away from the gripping element181, thereby deploying the vascular occlusion device 142 a.

It will be understood that the embodiments of the present inventionwhich have been described are illustrative of some of the applicationsof the principles of the present invention. Numerous modifications maybe made by those skilled in the art without departing from the truespirit and scope of the invention, including those combinations offeatures that are individually disclosed or claimed herein.

1. A vascular occlusion deployment system, comprising: a deployment unitcomprising a pusher having a proximal end portion and a distal endportion with a distal opening, the distal opening sized and shaped totemporarily accept a protruding portion of a vascular occlusion device;an expandable reaction chamber located within the pusher proximal thedistal opening of the pusher, the expandable chamber expandable in adirection toward the distal end portion of the pusher; said reactionchamber including a first sub-chamber and a second sub-chamber separatedby a heat dissolvable membrane; a first reactant located within thefirst sub-chamber and a second reactant located within the secondsub-chamber; a heating generating system capable of dissolving the heatdissolvable element to allow said first reactant and second reactant tomix, forming a product that expands in the direction of the distalopening; and said expanding product applying a force to the reactionchamber causing a portion of the reaction chamber to expand in thedirection of the distal opening, said portion of the reaction chambercapable of contacting a protruding portion of a vascular occlusiondevice within the distal opening and pushing the protruding portion outof the distal opening, thereby deploying the vascular occlusion device.2. The deployment system of claim 1, wherein the heat dissolvablemembrane is of a material that comprises a polyolefin.
 3. The deploymentsystem of claim 1, wherein the heat dissolvable membrane degrades at atemperature above human body temperature.
 4. The deployment system ofclaim 3, wherein said temperature is at least about 40 degrees C.
 5. Thedeployment system of claim 1, wherein the first reactant comprises amixture of cyanoacrylate monomer and ethanol, and the second reactantcomprises mixture of ethanol and N,N-Dimethyl-p-toluidine.
 6. Thedeployment system of claim 1, wherein the product comprises apolycyanoacrylate foam.
 7. The deployment system of claim 1, wherein thereaction chamber comprises a polymeric material.
 8. The deploymentsystem of claim 1, wherein the heat generating system comprises anelectrical resistance heating coil connected to a power source viaelectrical leads.
 9. The deployment system of claim 1, wherein thevascular occlusion device is an embolic coil.
 10. The deployment systemof claim 1, wherein the first sub-chamber and second sub-chamber arediscrete sections.
 11. A vascular occlusion device deployment system,comprising: a vascular occlusion device having a protruding portion; adeployment unit comprising a pusher having a proximal end portion and adistal end portion; an expandable gripper located at the distal endportion of the pusher, said gripper including an outwardly expandablegripping element for gripping the protruding portion of the vascularocclusion device; an expandable reaction chamber located at leastpartially within said gripper, said chamber including a firstsub-chamber and a second sub-chamber separated by a heat dissolvablemembrane; a first reactant housed within the first sub-chamber and asecond reactant housed within the second sub-chamber, said reactionchamber expanding when said first and second reactants react; a heatgenerating system that is capable of dissolving the heat dissolvingmembrane, allowing the first and second reactants to react; and wherebythe expansion of the chamber causes the gripper to outwardly expand,releasing the protruding portion of the vascular occlusion device. 12.The deployment system of claim 11, wherein the expandable reactionchamber comprises a polymeric material.
 13. The deployment system ofclaim 11, wherein the gripping elements comprise a plurality of jaws.14. The deployment system of claim 11, wherein the first reactantcomprises a mixture of cyanoacrylate monomer and ethanol, and the secondreactant comprises a mixture of ethanol and N,N-Dimethyl-p-toluidine.15. The deployment system of claim 11, wherein the first and secondreactants produce a polycyanoacrylate foam when mixed together.
 16. Thedeployment system of claim 11, wherein the heat generating systemcomprises an electrical resistance heating coil connected to a powersource via lead wires.
 17. A method for deployment of a vascularocclusion device at a preselected location within the vasculature of apatient, comprising: providing a deployment unit comprising a pushermember having a distal end opening and a reaction chamber proximalthereof, said chamber including a first sub-chamber and a secondsub-chamber separated by a heat dissolvable membrane, a first reactanthoused in said first sub-chamber and a second reactant housed in thesecond sub-chamber; removably disposing a vascular occlusion devicehaving a portion protruding into the distal end opening of the lumen;using the deployment unit to place the vascular occlusion device at apreselected location within the vasculature of a patient; dissolving theheat dissolving membrane to cause the first reactant and the secondreactant to react within the chamber, said reactants producing a productwhich has a larger volume than the reactants; and directing theexpanding product toward the distal end opening to remove the protrudingportion from the distal end opening of the lumen, thereby deploying thevascular occlusion device.
 18. The method according to claim 17, whereinsaid dissolving the heat dissolving membrane comprises dissolving theheat dissolving membrane with an electrical resistance heating coil. 19.The method according to claim 17, wherein said first reactant comprisesa mixture of cyanoacrylate monomer and ethanol, and the second reactantcomprises mixture of ethanol and N,N-Dimethyl-p-toluidine.
 20. A methodfor deployment of a vascular occlusion device at a preselected locationwithin the vasculature of a patient, comprising: providing a deploymentunit comprising a pusher member having a gripper located at a distal endof the pusher member, said gripper having an expandable gripper elementfor gripping a vascular occlusion device and an expandable reactionchamber disposed at least partially within said gripper, said chamberincluding a first sub-chamber and a second sub-chamber separated by aheat dissolving membrane, a first reactant housed within the firstsub-chamber and a second reactant housed within the second sub-chamber;gripping a protruding portion of a vascular occlusion device with saidgripper; guiding the vascular occlusion device to a preselected locationwithin the vasculature of a patient with said pusher; dissolving theheat dissolving membrane to cause the first reactant and the secondreactant to react within the interior of the expandable reaction chamberto produce a product having a volume greater than the combined volume ofthe first and second reactants, said product expanding the expandablereaction chamber; and expanding the gripping elements under the force ofthe expanding reaction chamber, thereby releasing the protruding portionof the vascular occlusion device.
 21. The method of claim 20, furtherincluding pushing the coil out of the gripper under the force of theexpanding reaction chamber.
 22. The method of claim 20, wherein themixing of at least said first reactant and said second reactantcomprises mixing a cyanoacrylate monomer and ethanol, and a mixture ofethanol and N,N-Dimethyl-p-toluidine.